Good morning from the beautiful Hurlingham club in London. The skies are blue with some light high cloud and the temperature is about 20 degrees. We have enjoyed excellent lawns running faster than usual for Hurlingham at around 11 seconds and there have been few errors from the finalists who have taken advantage of easy hoops, which were illegally wide on the first day.

Todays final involves four players with around 140 years of experience between. Stephen Mulliner and Mark Suter have beaten Harding and Wise +26tp(M), +17, Carter and Patel 17sxp(M) +2 and Avery and Burch +26tp(M), -26tp(A), +26tp(M), +26tp(M). They would have been hoping to make it a clean sweep of the England MacRoberston Shield pairs, but unfortunately, the final pair Death and Fisher lost in the semi-final to Alain Giraud and Jenny Clarke. Alain has had a great event - he did exactly what he wanted every time he walked on the lawn for the first five games in the event. Jenny shot and played very well in the semi-final. The pair started the event by beating Reg Bamford and Pete Trimmer after the most "adventurous" tpo you could have seen from Jenny in the first game.

It has benn great to meet with old friends from the past 35 years this event. Doug Grimsley and Brian Cumming have flown in from North America just for the event. George Noble and Ian Vincent are playing together for the millionth time. Martin Murray (a few days short of his 80th birthday) partnered Veronica Carlisle and picked up a win yesterday. At the younger end, Euan Burridge partnered his Dad and beat Carter and Patel in the plate, having won their first round of the knockout as well.
If any readers live near to London, I recommend a visit during the singles - maybe on Friday when we get all four quarter-final or for workers, next weekend for the finals.

The final will be played on lawn 4 and I've just checked the hoops and the gap between hoop and ball is about 6 times less than on day 1, so a big improvement.

Jenny has the interesting scenario of playing with all her doubles partners today -she partnered Mark Suter in the Men's and Women's and Stephen Mulliner in the GC Open Doubles.

We've seen a variety of openings so far - supershots, Duffer tices and C2 openings being the most common.
In response to supershots, C2 has been most common, but in weaker matches, pairs have shot gently at it. With the lawns playing faster, the hills have been more noticeable and I've just advised Alain and Jenny to checked out the hoop3/4-b area which has a notorious slope around it.

The players have started their warm-up. Alain and Jenny have been shooting very gently during the event, whereas Mark and Stephen have been shooting at a more normal firm pace.

Mulliner and Suter shared the Championship with Chapman and Maugham in 2018 when the event was unfinished. Clarke and Giraud are a new pairing.

Mulliner has the remarkable record of having played in the Open Doubles final with ten different partners

What will the key factors be today? Shooting and errors - just like normal at Hurlingham.

The lawns haven't been officially timed, but they are a minimum of 11 seconds. I haven't seen anyone fail a hoop in the practice so far.

Mulliner attempted two sextuples against Carter and Patel and it will be interesting to see whether they try any more today.

13+ minutes of practice so far and no sign of the match starting

The coin is tossed and we're off
T1 Giraud (Red) 11y N if C4
T2 That must have come as a surprise to their opponents since a long discussion has ensued :-) Mulliner (Blue) lays a Duffer tice about a yard South-East of h6
T3 Clarke (Yellow) shoots at Red from C3 - hits half-ball

T3 (cont.) Clarke will be trying to go round since the Duffer has no protection from h6, Sens R 3 yards S h2 and gets a 3 yard rush pointing at the middle of the W boundary, which she proceeds to hit to level with h6. A 20 yard take-off to h1 is now required The length was excellent, but she's finished too far West and will be returning to the other two balls to create a short 3-ducks leave.

T4 Suter (Black) now has about an 11 or 12 yarder at R from B-baulk...............hits half ball. Will he go to 4-b or 1-b?

After a busy weekend at Hurlingham with lots of Members and their children, we are now in a much more peaceful environment, only troubled by the regular overhead aircraft on their way to Heathrow. Mark has his break underf full control.

T4 (cont.) Mark has reached h5 and it is looking like the fireworks are being saved for later as this looks very much like a break to 4-b. We're playing best of 5 today.

One of the really good things that the CA has done this year is to say that games must be played as normal advanced unless both players agree otherwise. This is an attempt to get their players used to normal advanced prior to the MacRoberston Shield in November. The past two Macs have seen a clear degradation in the standard of lift leave making by the English players which must be a result of Super-advanced where so many contact leave are made.

It's a shame that we haven't used Atkins for the doubles in an attempt to replicate Mac conditions.

T4 (cont.) Mark has placed Y at the peg and will be making a diagonal spread. If Alain and Jenny get in, we'll probably see NSLs from them.

On lawn 3, Joel Taylor has just taken off the lawn, showing that the extra speed is causing some problems.

t4 (cont.) Yellow is tight on the peg and Mark has laid up about a yard North of level with h5. I expect the long lift to be taken.

Jenny has lifted Y and is taking the long lift. I think this is an error since if she hits in the middle, obtaining a rush to the W boundary may be tricky, whereas had Alin played, he would have a ball at the peg.. Jenny can't believe it as her balls hills off, but that is always a possibility with gentle shooting

Stephen is the fastest of the 4 players by some way, so we should see some fast progress

T6 (cont.) Stephen has made h1 and played a poor croquet stroke, leaving R 4 yards short of h3 and going 3 yards past his h2 pioneer. He approaches h2 from 3-4 yards and is slightly hampered after running the hoop..............hits in the middle.

Reg is wandering back to car park - he thought the singles was starting this morning

T6 (cont.) Stephen is making h4 off partner. He rush back to 4-b, where an escape ball is waiting and has the option of attempting the peel from 4 yards straight

T6 (cont.) Stephen turns down the peel and sets up for a tidy peel before h6

One of the features of this event is that we're playing with old Dawsons. These are well worn and rush well and have good stop shots. They are substantially different from the Dawson Humpty's that were in use for the Men's and Women's. I believe that Humty's will be used for the Mac.

T6 (cont.) Stephen has placed his 1-b pioneer a couple of yards off the end of B-Baulk, has peeld 4-b and has a cut-rush to h6, which he plays well

T6 (cont.) Stephen plays a good stop shot approaching h6 sending a ball to 1-b and runs the hoop hard to the ball near the end of B-Baulk. He'll be sending partner to 2-b

T6 (cont.) Stephen sent his 2-b pioneer 6 yards short, but it hasn't caused any problems and he's settting up for a delayed double - he need a rush out of 3-b.

T6 (cont.) Stephen approaches 3-b to 30 degrees but has no trouble getting his forward rush. He peels penultimate before 4-b and will now need a straight rover peel to take the first game.

T6 (cont.) Mulliner & Suter win game 1 +26tp(M)

First question of the day comes from Nick Parish - "what are Humpty's". Well Nick, they are the newest type of Dawson balls. When Bryan Dawson sold the company, the new owners moved manufacturing to an Australian town called Humpty Doo. The new type of ball has different playing characteristics despite the fact that we've been told the same moulds and plastic has been used.

Game 2
T1 Mulliner (R) Supershot 2 yards NW of h5.
T2 Giraud (Blue) just S of C2
T3 Suter (Y) shoots at Blue from B-Baulk...........hits 2/3 ball. Rolls out of C2, missing h2 with the croqueted ball which finishes 3yards S of h6. Rushes partner to the S boundary in front of h1, approaches well and he should be round to 4-b

G2T3 (cont.) Poor croquet stroke after h2 leaves his h4 pioneer 6 yards short and he has a cut-rush to h3. Makes h3 without a forward rush. Sens his h5 pioneer 4 yards S of h5 and has a 3 yard rush to h4 which he rushes to 1 ft straight.

When you just look at the scores coming out of the UK, it looks like the standard of play is really high, but when you see the execution, it becomes apparent that more challenging playing conditions will significantly impact their level of success.

G2T3 (cont.) Mark has made his 9 hoops and his clip is on 4-b. For his leave, he has made a 3-ball spread with partner level with h5 about 2feet in-lawn from the E boundary, with a 2ft rush on Alain's ball to his own ball which is level with h6 and just in-lawn from the W boundary. I think Stephen is playing well enough to justify the westerly ball being on the boundary, but Stephen gave clear instructions for it to be in-lawn.

G2T4 Jenny is shooting from 4 yards W of C3 at Stephen's ball...............misses to C4. Should be 2-0 before noon. Looking good for me making my west end show this evening!

G2T5 Stephen's rush to h1 finished 7 yards NW of h1. He rolls up and finished just inside the line with the C1 corner-peg - about 40 degrees...........runs it by 9 yards and misses 4 yard return roquet, finishing in C1
Recap
R - h2
Y- 4-B
U - h1
K - h1

G2T6 The natural shot is for Alain to shoot Blue (at h2) at Black (in C4), but the peg is very close to the line, possibly completely in line. They look like they are discussing where to join up to ensure blue doesn't hit the peg and they don't leave a double. Alain plays about 2ft N of black

G2T7 One thing about Stephen as a doubles partner is that he never needs to be asked his opinion. He's on the lawn chattering and gesturing (or should that be jesturing) :-) Hands are going up and down, left to right abd eventually they decide that he'll play Red at Yellow - about a 14 yarder...................hits 80%, rushing it to 5 yards SE of h2. Plays a thin take-off to the opponents in C4 and will be rushing to h2 from a long way away

G2T7 (cont.) Stephen's rush to h2 finishes 5yards ESE of h2. He overhits the approach abd has a 5ft 45 degree hoop..................smoothly through with a fist

G2T7 (cont.) Black is about 4 yards out of C4 and Stephen is happy with that as his h4 pioneer, so will be peeling yellow after h3. The peel goes through by 2ft and Stephen has a rush on the escape ball which he overcuts to a yard W of h4. Takes off behind black , but is a bit short . He'll be approaching h4 from 3 yards NE.............poor approach sees the strikers ball travel directly at the hoop leaving another 45 degree hoop which he smoothes through. Partner claps knowing that a 2-0 is almost in the bag

Second question of the day comes from Andrew Gregory - "is this the first time both pairs in the final are unseeded?" Well, the easy answer is definitely not since in the days of yore the event wasn't seeded. The 1983 final, played in extremely difficult conditions at Cheltenham has Bell & Rose vs McCullough & Cordingley, so it is possible that neither of those pairs was seeded and 1981 had Mulliner & M. Ormerod v Noble & Vincent. It is certainly true that seeded pairs have done well in recent doubles.

G2T7 (cont.) Stephen has two peels before 3-b and partner near rover. Andrew Gregory hopes to be coming on Friday, so I look forward to some QF commentary whilst Jenny and myself are in Newmarket.

G2T7 (cont.) Stephen finishes +26tp. Mulliner & Suter lead 2-0

G3T1 Giraud (Blue) 15 N of C4
G3T2 Mulliner (Red) just N of C4
G3T3 Clarke (Black) shoots at R............misses to the north, leaving a decent size gap between the balls
G3T4 Suter (Yellow) shoots at Red......misses

G3T5 Thismay be a chance for Jenny to get a cannon and promote a ball to h1 going up the boundary to partner

G3T5 (cont.) Jenny gets the cannon and lines up the promotion. You need to hit down on the strikers ball to avoid squiting off the lawn. She's playing it as a full roll which is a lot more roll than I'd use, although Blue is a long way north. Yellow goes 3yards SSW of h1 and black goes 7 yards NNW of blue - too much roll

G3T5 (cont.) The balls are being replaced since Jenny thinks she hit red on the cannon.

another good reason not to play a full roll!!

G3T6 Mark is now trying to play the same cannon. Stephen is placing the balls. Lots of pointing going on by Stephen. Now they are changing their mind and trying to croquet a ball in-lawn rushing partner up the boundary to blue - apparently Mark has never played the promotion before!

G3T6 (cont.) Mark has played the wrong cannon well and now has three balls 15y N of C4 and the ball he's used is 4y S of h4. Mark gets a rush to h1 on Alain's blue and rushes 4 yards short

G3T6 (cont.) Mark overhits the approach to get a 2 yard 10 degree hoop which hits into the middle of the near wire.

G3T7 Blue will be taking its 7 yarder at Yellow. Alain has yet to do more than put his ball on the lawn....................hits in the middle, not quite reaching the south boundary.

G3T7 (cont.) Alain sends Y to h2 going to Red on the E boundary. He'll now need to take off to partner 4 yards S of h4 to obtain a rush to h1. - good shot. Rushes 2 yards W of h1 and should get a ball round from here

Nice to have a bit of interaction in the final

So, despite being 2-0 down, Jenny still has the opportunity to have won the Australian, NZ and British AC Open doubles at her last attempt with 3 different partners.

G3T7(cont.) Alain is playing a good break and has reached 1-b. Expect an NSL. Probably want Mulliner's ball at 3-b

G3T7 (cont.) No NSL - its a diagonal spread instead. Alain has laid up about level with h5.

G3T8 Suter's ball is at the peg and should be the one they lift to force Jenny to rush as far as possible.
Mark lifts red and goes to C3 to take the long lift................hits 85% on the right

G3T8 (cont.) I'm expecting a 1-b leave since Mulliner didn't take the lift. Mark has made h1 with all the balls

G3T (cont.) Mark has made h2 and is sending Alain's ball to h4, so no tpo.

G3T8 (cont.) Regular readers will enjoy the following quote from Stephen this lunchtime. We were discussing when he goes to 4-b compared to stopping at 1-b......."It depends on how much I want to win".

Perhaps finally the penny has dropped?

G3T8 (cont.) Mark is trying to make the crosswire at h1 from a very rough position. He's croqueting the first ball SW of h1 from h6 and now has a rush on the other opponent ball near the peg. Has to move it about 2 feet to get the wire.........I wonder if he'll get a rush to 1-b on partner just in case :-)
The "wire" is completely wide open and Mark has rushed 5 yards NW of 1-b. A decent approach leaves a 1 yard hoop and he's back on his break to 4-b. What a shame, I was so looking forward to a sextuple/tpo.

G3T8 (cont.) Mark is round to 4-b and has made a diagonal spread with Alain's ball at the peg possibly not rushing perfectly to h1 and has laid up just N or h5, deliberately leaving artner a foot in from the yard line

G3T9 Potentially the last shot for Alain and Jenny. They are looking at whether Alain's ball rushes to h1 and it looks like the best you can do is rush 5 yards East. Jenny has lifted her Black to C3 and is taking the long lift................through the middle.

G3T10 Stephen is looking at whether the ball on the peg will rush to C4, tries the shot, but rushes it just E of the end of A-BAULK and will be approaching h1 from there.

G3T10 (cont.) Rolls up to h1 and gets a straight 2 yard hoop..............takes heaps of wire and has a hampered shot. Looks easy. Hits in the middle. Delayed tp required to win the match.

G3T10 (cont.) A good rush after h4 allows Stephen to jaws the 4b peel. Penult peel made after h6. Rover peel before 3-b.

Mulliner & Suter win the 2022 Open Doubles Championship +26tp(M) +26tp(M) +17tp(M)